Many parents cannot wait to try their little ones with first foods. It’s a topic that always seems to divide mums on forums and Facebook groups. Should I start before 6 months? Baby led or purees? Home made or jars? Organic or not. Then before you know it you have a one-year-old walker who’s off licking bins and pram wheels and trying to eat the occasional slug (just me?).
The truth is the big debates surrounding weaning seems to fade into insignificance within a matter of a few years. With my firstborn, I homemade purees and made crudités and avocado slices for a mix of baby led and traditional weaning. She hated it. She hated all food to be fair (until she was gone 1) and can still be a fussy eater but I did everything by ‘the book’. Everything was organic. I peeled, chopped and pureed what felt like a million squashes, courgettes, sweet potatoes and until she was about 18 months the only store-bought snacks were Ella’s kitchen or Organix.
Then I had baby number 2. They do say you relax more with your second and I very much embraced this by chilling out completely. Easter came along when she was about 9 months and she definitely had chocolate eggs. Pom-bears are a snack staple and I do confess she is fully aware what prawn crackers taste of.
I’m not sure how much of an impact those early months make but my youngest is a far better eater than my eldest. She will happily eat any vegetable and meat is not an issue. Funnily enough she hasn’t got a sweet tooth and as a result, eats a very healthy diet.
I’m not promoting my lazy-ass ‘anything goes’ weaning with my second as a new go-to method for introducing solids. What I am trying to say is try not to stress yourself out with all the overwhelmingly contradictory advice and mum-shaming comments that are unavoidable when doing online research. I can assure you that your baby will eat (even if it takes a little while) and you will forget the 75 butternut squashes you struggled to peel in their first year.
Written by: Cath from Baking with Kids
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